#hsurtis

[tumbleweed-heart]

That one comic that needs in-game context a lot...

[bruderup]

Curtis has definitely thought about defecting at least twice in his lifetime

I can imagine his constant anxiety living among enemies, one slip and he could end up in a tribunal. No wonder he has insomnia in canon, being a spy puts a massive mental and physical toll on him

In the Legion, he probably never had a leader like Hsu, someone who doesn't kill subordinates for petty mistakes, treats them with warmth. When he finds a man who genuinely treats him like a human being and cares about his well-being, it destroys him

He is shocked at first, and touched, perhaps at first he only cares about Hsu, not the whole NCR

Things get more dangerous, he actually starts to care about his men and the people around him, and he hates himself for that. He just keeps feeling conflicted

He can't just run from the Legion and the NCR probably won't forgive him easily either, so he lies, he lies often. The non Legion endings could actually make them work. The Legion stays too busy with their own shit and he can just pretend to die and run somewhere back in the West with Hsu

He’s such a complex character with so much potential, his relationship with Hsu has so many layers!

[justasmalltownboy27]

I like to imagine Curtis is Aromantic Allosexual or demi-romantic and the first person he gets close to and falls for is Hsu, it's just cool to me. Either way I think he's pansexual and has internalized homophobia.

[bruderup]

Daunt by @savvy-bean

[bruderup]

Happy Pride Month and Men's Mental Health Awareness Month to my favorite ship in Fallout New Vegas: Colonel James Hsu x Captain Ronald Curtis!

[bruderup]

Archaic April @thepromptfoundry day 28 - Handwritten Correspondence

The NCR made its soldiers write "last letters" to be sent to their families or loved ones in the event of their death in battle, you can see those Forlorn Hope letters.

Boone, when he was killed, dropped a letter titled 'For Carla.'

I imagine Manny wrote a letter for his folks back in the Khans. O'Hanrahan would write individual letters for his family members, to his sisters, his ma, and his pa

Major Dhatri would write to his daughter and her husband. Private Kowalski would write to his other brother, urging him to avenge all those killed by the Legion

Colonel Hsu wrote well for his family. He was good at writing, so he poured his heart into the letters, and then he added a special letter for Ronald Curtis

Captain Curtis wrote for a brother named Fox, but then he wrote something for James Hsu too

[bruderup]

One of the reasons why I absolutely love the Ronald Curtis/James Hsu pair is their flexibility in the story. In a Legion ending, Ronald goes crazy and probably takes James as his POW. In an NCR ending, Ronald just continues the shit he already does. In a Yes Man ending, they just run away somewhere, etc! There are so many possibilities!

​But one of my favorite tropes is when Ronald slowly becomes the mask. Ronald swore to destroy the NCR, but he slowly realized he preferred the life of a Captain to the life of a Frumentarius. He's tired

James's kind heart leads him to defect from the Legion and choose a different path

[tumbleweed-heart]

Picus is a thoroughgoing misanthrope and a committed agent of the Legion, who spends years living among NCR troopers feeling nothing but contempt for them. For years he successfully sabotages the Republic, until his new commanding officer, Colonel Hsu, begins to show him genuine human concern. To his own surprise, Curtis finds himself unable to respond with his usual indifference.